PowerColor Says Graphics Cards Are Too Heavy

By Rico Mossesgeld
published

Never break your precious graphics cards again.

With high-end graphics cards putting on weight, PowerColor says that cases and motherboards simply don't provide enough support for these hardware behemoths. A particularly vulnerable area is the rear of the card, away from the relative strength of the case backplate.

The company claims that a PCIe slot can only take so much, before it snaps and interrupts your 16AA Crysis 2 experience. The graphics card vendor will release what it calls the PowerJack, a retractable brace that can be used to prop up ultra-heavy graphics cards.

Weighing only 30 grams, the PowerJack supports loads of up to a kilo-and-a-half. It can extend from its 61.25mm height up to 150mm. PowerColor will start bundling the PowerJack with its heavier cards (no specific yet) this July 15, and sell the accessory separately a few "weeks" after for $9.99.

A Jacked Up New Product from PowerColor

Rico Mossesgeld
49 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Parsian
    i was wondering when they going to talk about the weight of these monsters...

    but i personally would need to see evidence for the claim that current cards are heavy enough to do such damage but nevertheless it is reasonable
    Reply
  • frye
    Whatever happened to technology getting faster and smaller?

    Reply
  • skimicro
    PowerColor Says Graphics Cards Are Too Heavy
    Wow!!! These guys at PowerColor are pretty smart. Who knew video cards were getting heavy.
    That won't work on PC cases with a PSU at the bottom.
    I have 205mm from the bottom of the case to my video card. Maybe I can use a car jack.
    Reply
  • eklipz330
    fryeWhatever happened to technology getting faster and smaller?chips are getting smaller, but they can pack a lot more on the cards so it's also denser


    this is a waste of money, i'd just tie the ends of the card to the top of the case, so if the card breaks the pci-e slot, it breaks the case too!
    Reply
  • IzzyCraft
    fryeWhatever happened to technology getting faster and smaller?the gpu's get faster and smaller but also now getting more power hungry and hotter
    I'm waiting for everything to be tri slot graphics cards lol.

    This is also why you should always secure your graphics cards with screws.

    Also didn't the 8800 ultra come with like a hdd cage brace to hold it up.
    Reply
  • xxsk8er101xx
    PowerColor has a point. The only downside I can see to a heavy graphics card is if you didn't screw it in however.
    Reply
  • digitalrazoe
    So .. umm when are they going to address these big a$$ed fans we have to put over our CPUs to keep them cool ?
    Reply
  • This is only good for single card apllications, since you can't also hold the seoncd/third/fouth card. However, for those things, the Cooler Master CM 690 II Advanced and the Haf X come with a GPU brace. But 10bucks? For something I can make with a piece of wood from a dump? Oh well nits not too bad.
    Reply
  • nforce4max
    I got a case that has something like this, its annoying. Most of the weight can be balanced on the I/O bracket instead of the slot but they wont do that. People should be more careful about their hardware and then they wouldn't have stuff like this happened. I learned my lesson the hard way several times and am better off that way having learned a valuable lesson.
    Reply
  • banthracis
    I wasn't aware that board's breaking was an issue.

    Perhaps PowerColor shouldn't use the cheapest parts they can find to make their GPU's? They are known as being the "cheapest" GPU maker by every definition of "cheap".

    Reply